


An Evening in Dalaam

by dvdvante



Category: EarthBound, Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound, mother 2
Genre: Earthbound - Freeform, M/M, jeffpoo, mother 2 - Freeform, poojeff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24770596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dvdvante/pseuds/dvdvante
Summary: Short and light fic about Jeff coming to see Poo for the first time since the war. They're crushing on each other, so it's a little gay.
Relationships: Jeff Andonuts/Poo (Mother 2)
Kudos: 8





	An Evening in Dalaam

Jeff had seen a lot of things during his adventures with his friends. They had nearly died hundreds of times and actually died almost as many. Now, he stood anxiously in the throne room of the Crown Prince, Poo, waiting for said prince to return from his hidden bedroom so that Jeff could be shown whatever it was that had Poo invite him to Dalaam to begin with. Jeff made accidental eye contact with a servant(?) whose hair looked disturbingly mechanical and telephone-like before forcing his gaze back to the window, where he could see wisps of pink clouds floating through the deepening blue sky. The sun would set soon, Jeff realized, making him yawn and allowing his thoughts to wander again.

Examining the pink cloud, it occurred to him that there had never really any time to enjoy what little positive aspects came with traveling around the world with three psychics, and stacks of money to blow on whatever food, drinks and explosives they desired. On top of the fact that they were constantly close to losing their lives, their journey was laced with bowel-clenchingly terrifying encounters in graveyards, bitterly cold woodland and throat deep swamps with horrible abominations brought about by the embodiment of evil itself-Giygas. Even thinking his name brought forth an involuntary shudder, but somehow he had trouble recalling the image of the swirling mass of pure power. Whether that was due to Giygas’ form being truly impossible to grasp or a protective measure of his brain was up in the air.

‘I wonder if Poo feels the same way…’ Jeff thought to himself, and as if he had called him out loud, Poo appeared seemingly out of nowhere at the end of the hall. His stance seemed reserved, his heels touching one another and his shoulders taut. Looking over his dark purple silk outfit and black slippers, Jeff realized quite suddenly that he had never seen Poo outside of his battle gear.

'Hi, Poo.” Jeff made himself speak. Man, how long had it been since he last saw Poo? His memory lent him the vision of Poo whisking away into the skies of Saturn Valley, carried by a cloud of pink smoke entirely unique to his PSI, and Jeff felt himself begin to sweat. Poo didn’t look very different-he was a lot cleaner and a little taller, but his sharp eyes (and even sharper lashes) were ever so familiar.

The two looked at each other for a moment in silence before Poo’s voice erupted with a “Jeff!” Before he could react, Jeff found himself in the Prince's strong embrace. Emotion overwhelmed him and Jeff clung back, feeling the smooth silk of Poo’s clothes wrinkling under his fingers as the two broke out into laughter, nearly falling over each other as they struggled to hug the other even tighter.

“OK!! I give!!” Jeff eventually half-shouted, and was pleased when Poo’s hands slid from around him and trailed down to clasp his hands. Jeff was flushing furiously, but even through his jostled glasses he could see Poo’s eyes were sparkling with joy. “Jeff!! You know, I’m kind of glad you gave in. I don’t know if you’re aware, but you’re pretty strong!”

Jeff barely contained a proud beam and averted his gaze. “Those bombs sure didn’t weigh a couple of ounces…!” 

Poo’s gaze somehow grew even warmer. “C’mon, you’re just in time. The sun’s setting so the view will be ready soon.” Jeff felt himself be gently tugged forward and the two of them strode happily through the palace, hand in hand.

  * *•*•



Poo’s heart was racing in a way he recognized but didn’t quite understand. It raced the same way when he saw Jeff slumped over a desk after a long night of tireless work, or when he was cradled in Jeff’s arms while the other boy quietly waited for the life and warmth to return to his once-dead body. He felt Jeff’s palm slide a little and knew that he must be nervous, and strangely enough, Poo felt he could relate.

The two of them emerged from the entrance of his castle, and to his disappointment Jeff freed his hand from his own. He watched as the blond wordlessly stepped forward, until he was near the edge of the cliff the castle sat on, able to see nearly the entire kingdom below. He spread his arms wide and audibly inhaled, followed by a whooshing exhale.

Poo opened his mouth to ask what on Earth he was doing when Jeff suddenly spoke. “The last time I was here...you and I-er, our friends too-were struggling to find our way into the depths of a cave while being electrocuted and poisoned almost nonstop. It was horrible…now, everything is so peaceful. It’s safe. We can just...be here.” Jeff breathed again and turned around, gifting Poo with the most relaxed and genuine smile he’d ever seen on his face. Poo’s heart started to pound again, and he swallowed nervously. 

“Sorry, I don’t mean to hold us up. You’ve got something to show me right?”

“Yes, it’s over here.” Poo thanked the heavens that he didn’t stutter. Jeff joined his side again but didn’t join hands, and the two set off into the grassy field adjacent to his home.

“Heh, I think I landed the Sky Runner in this field.” Jeff spoke, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I could’ve waited out here if I knew we were going this way.”

“True, but I do like walking with you,” Poo admitted, immediately cursing himself. “Not like I shouldn’t have considered if you felt like walking-“

“It’s fine!” Jeff cut him off. “I really like walking with you too.”

Jeff’s tone was light but Poo couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d offended his friend somehow. The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable however, and as the sun nearly finished setting, the two arrived at their destination. To Poo’s relief the blanket he had set up earlier was still held in place by the telescope anchored on top of it. Unlit lanterns sat in the grass nearby for when it inevitably became too dark to see with eyes alone. 

“Hey...Poo.” Jeff said quietly. “Are we stargazing?”

"Poo was so taken aback by the low tone of his friend’s voice that he couldn’t stop the stutter. “Y-yeah, is that okay?”

Jeff brought his hands to his chest, clearly suppressing a grin. “Yeah, it’s just..I know you really like to do this. Makes me feel kinda special being here.”

For what felt like the hundredth time that evening, Poo’s heart started racing again. “It’s s-something I really enjoy, yeah. We hadn’t seen each other since the war, so I thought…” Poo scrambled to finish his thought. “I thought, it’d be nice for you to be in my homeland without the threat of death hanging over our heads…” He trailed off, feeling strangely silly. 

“Haha, I get it,” Jeff smiled again and Poo’s chest thumped just a little harder. “Even when we were in danger, I’ll be honest, I was still happy just to be with you. Just as I’m happy right now. I can’t even describe how it felt when you called me to come see you.”

Poo’s heart swelled. “Me too, Jeff. Um, I mean I liked being with you, on our adventure. And I like being with you right now. We counted on each other so much in battle, it’s so nice to be together in peace.” He averted his gaze for a moment, suddenly overwhelmed by his own emotions. 

The shadows grew longer and it was getting considerably dark. “Here, let me light the lanterns,” Poo scooted past his friend quickly, feeling for the box of matches he had dropped on the blanket earlier. “Ugh, I can’t…”

“Oh, lemme help,” Jeff offered pleasantly, dropping onto his hands and knees to search where Poo wasn’t. As the sky darkened further and stars began to dot the sky, Poo cursed himself for not training to learn the art of PSI fire before inviting Jeff over.

The search was fruitless. Poo felt himself becoming tense as nighttime rolled over, but reminded himself that there wasn’t any danger anymore. “Sorry Jeff, I thought I had left a box of matches here…”

“It’s okay,” Jeff said shakily. “But um, do you mind if I like, hold your hand again. I don’t like being outside with no lights, haha.” Jeff’s chuckle punctuated his nervousness, and in that moment Poo had never felt a stronger desire to be close to the boy. He wordlessly slid across the blanket and reached for Jeff’s hand, but was taken by surprise when Jeff moved even closer and buried his head in Poo’s chest, clutching his shirt almost as tightly as he did just half an hour earlier.

“Sorry,” Jeff’s voice was barely a whisper. “I think I like this better.”

Poo’s heart was hammering now, but he felt eerily calm. “Me too.”

Jeff laughed softly. “Who would have thought, two of the defeaters of the ultimate evil are afraid of the dark.” Before Poo could say anything, Jeff spoke. “I can tell you’re scared too. Your heart’s freaking racing.”

Poo wrapped a comforting arm around his friend, not sure how to tell him that wasn’t at all why his heart rate was through the roof. “We’ll be okay, we have each other. Dyou want me to teleport us back to the Sky Runner? I doubt you’re allowed to stay out much later...”

Jeff shuffled a little before sighing deeply. “If that’s okay. But first…”

Something warm and soft pressed against Poo’s cheek. “Thank you for inviting me. Please say I can come back again soon.”

Poo’s entire body erupted in fireworks, and his head spun. His soul was alive with cheer, but out loud he spoke in the warmest tone of voice; “Of course. I can’t wait.”


End file.
